‘Cemetery’ dog reunited with owners

LATHAM, N.Y. – A local man met the woman who single-handedly launched an online campaign to find him after she noticed his lost dog hanging around a cemetery.

Art Vascherault, the owner of three-year-old Roo, met Melissa Bodenstab for the first time Thursday afternoon. Every day for the past week, Bodenstab has been stopping by a cemetery to check on Roo, nicknamed “cemetery dog” by thousands of people online.

Roo wouldn't come to anyone, so people began leaving food and water for him every day.

“You worry,” Bodenstab said. “If that was my dog, I would hopefully want someone to find me. So we took some pictures, sent it to Steve Caporizzo and he posted it on Pet Connection, and his mom found him.”

Vascherault said the past few weeks have been filled with ups and downs: his wife in and out of the hospital during the last few weeks of her pregnancy, followed by an emergency C-section, and then Roo got out the back door of their home.

Vascherault said a family member saw the pictures and immediately called to say their missing dog, Roo, was likely the “cemetery dog” circulating Facebook.

“I got on there and I said, ‘yes, that's him,'” Vascherault said. “My wife started getting in contact on Facebook and on Pet Connection, and that's when we got the lead to come here.”

Thursday morning Vascherault and Roo were reunited with photographs capturing the moment when they first arrived back at home.

Vascherault said he is so thankful to the neighbors for keeping a watchful eye on Roo, but especially to Bodenstab, for posting the picture in the first place.

“Grateful for my daughter to have her dog back,” he said. “This is a miracle.”

“I would lose sleep at night, worrying about this dog,” Bodenstab added. “I know it's hot. Everybody pulled together and made it possible so he could be reunited with his family. It's really a blessing.”

Now the Vascherault family is not only welcoming home their beloved dog but also a healthy baby boy.